Springtime Breads

There are few things more satisfying than sharing a skill or talent with people you really like. It's also true that teaching someone so they can acquire the skill and exercise their own talent is better than just doing your thing for them.

Last week I had the fun of sharing my baking skills with some women friends and showing them how to make some springtime breads.

Because for yeast breads it is sometimes easier to start with the dough already made, I showed them how to work a little magic on plain, ordinary frozen bread dough from the supermarket. I used Bridgeford brand and so I had three one-pound parcels of dough. I thawed them out overnight which worked very well.

The first recipe was perfect for Easter morning (if you make it the night before as I did) because you end up with totally cute nests surrounding a colored egg which cooks while the bread bakes. This time the egg was barely hard boiled. The last time I made thee the eggs were soft boiled on the way to hard boiled, so there was some runny yolk but no runny whites. It all depends on how long you bake the bread. This time I used plain white bread dough and then sprinkled sesame seeds on the nests before baking. That worked better than the sweet dough I used in THIS post in the spring of 2009 in the Bread Baker's Dog blog.

1) Egg nests: When I made this a few years ago the eggs came out of the oven soft boiled and you should remove the dyed egg from the nest within the first 10 minutes after you serve them because otherwise the shell tends to stick to the dough a bit.

I dyed the uncooked eggs the day before, created the nests, then put it all in the fridge overnight, baking them in the morning. Use the illustrations from THIS post if you want to see how to put them together.


Egg Nests

1 pound thawed frozen bread dough
8 eggs in the shell, uncooked, dyed or plain
1 egg, mixed with 2 tablespoons water, for egg wash
sesame seeds, or finely chopped nuts

Divide dough into 15 equal portions, about 1 oz each. Set three (3) portions aside. Cover half of the remaining twelve(12) portions with plastic wrap (six portions), but leave on the counter. You can unwrap them when you've made the first 3 nests from the six (6) portions you will now work with.

Take a portion. Roll it into a rope about 12 inches long. Repeat with another portion. Twist the ropes together. I find that if you start in the middle, twist one side to the end, then twist the other side to the end, it works very well.

Form the twisted rope into an oval and trim off any excess and make a continuous twist rope oval.

Take one of the three portions that were set aside and divide it into 2. Take one of those pieces and form an oval…you can add any dough you trimmed off, too. Place the oval on a Silpat mat, parchment lined baking sheet, or greased baking sheet. Place one of the uncooked eggs in the middle.

Put the rope oval in the palm of your hand, turn it over and lightly pat it with a wet hand.I also patted the inside rim of the rope.

Set the rope oval over the egg and let the wet dough seal with the flat oval already on the pan.

Repeat with the rest of the dough. You should finish with 6 nests.

NOTE: I used uncooked eggs and dyed them in a water bath that had been made from about 6 drops food coloring, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, and boiling water. The eggs should be close to room temperature so they don’t get shocked and break when put in boiling water. The eggs dye very quickly and can be removed to a paper towel lined glass baking pan or pie pan to drain and dry. They are in the dye bath only about 5 – 10 seconds. I dyed them right before I rolled out the ropes and then refrigerated the pans of rolls overnight.The photos are from right after I shaped them. I added the seeds the next morning before baking, but forgot to take any photos! They sat out for about 1/2 hour before I baked them. If the house or kitchen were very warm, you could probably pre-heat the oven and bake them about 15 minutes after removing from the fridge.

If shaping and baking on the same day, cover nests and let rise in a warm, draft-free place 30 – 45 minutes if baking right away, or until nearly doubled.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven. Brush the dough, but not the eggs, with egg wash; sprinkle dough with sesame seeds, or finely chopped nuts. (The sweet dough and coconut from an earlier version didn't go well with the soft boiled eggs, but savory would so I made savory with sesame seeds.)

Bake 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from pan and let cool on racks about 5 minutes then serve while hot.

I'm submitting this to fellow Bread Baking Babe Astrid of Paulchen's Food Blog since she is the hostess of the current Bread Baking Day with the theme of bread with eggs - it's #48. You can send her an entry too and I bet you will find a different way to combine eggs and bread dough...maybe with eggs IN the dough? Go to her post HERE to learn all about it.

I'm also sending this over to fellow Bread Baking Babe Susan at Wild Yeast for her weekly Yeastspotting event. If you ever bake with yeast, do visit Yeastspotting for lots of yummy bread inspiration.

Next post will continue the talent sharing baking...with a Raspberry Almond Braid. It's fun, it's easy and one of my friends saw me make it and made one herself that was a big hit with her family. You could do that too. Coming soon.....

Gulp...Grilled Pizza

Perhaps those who have followed this blog for a while think that I am fearless in the culinary arena since I often change recipes I've never made before and jump right in to the Daring Bakers ...and now the Bread Baking Babes, too...challenges. Mostly that's true, but there are some things that I've been too chicken to try.

Grilled pizza is one of them. One reason is probably because Sweetie is soooo great at grilling things, so I never have developed a comfort level about grilling things in general. Another on is that I've always had this image of a fully loaded pizza sliding through the grill grates and catching fire on my first try. That's enough to give me pause. Even when I was successful with pizza baked in the oven I was still really nervous about trying it on the grill.

This morning I woke up and decided that today I was going to stare down my fear of grilling pizza and give it a try. During the past week I have been reading online recipes and an Alton Brown one to get some ideas on how others have done it. I went to the store and bought the things I wanted to put on the pizzas. This morning I made the dough, using a recipe in Alton Brown's Gear For Your Kitchen book. After it doubled in size I tucked it in the fridge so I could keep scraping paint on the bathroom window in preparation for putting on new paint this week.

Late this afternoon, when the sun was turning everything golden and the shadows were lengthening (both of which made photographing the pizza process problematic, so be kind when you look at the photos, 'kay?), I rolled out the dough to make four smaller pizzas, assembled everything else and headed for the grill.

As I read through others' recipes I had collected some tips:
1) Have everything you need at the ready once you put the dough on the grill...things go quickly.
2) Put the dough on parchment and oil one side of the dough. Put the oiled side down on the grill first. That way you don't have to oil the grill gratings.

3) Pay attention. Depending on the heat of your grill things can go quickly or more slowly.
4) Have a very large spatula to turn the dough rounds, and to remove the finished pizza. Having a cutting board hand to slide the finished pizzas on for cutting is a great idea, too.

So I started the grill and let it preheat, then went to the kitchen and brought out the toppings, the olive oil, the pastry brush, the cutting board and pizza cutter and a large spatula like thing that is almost as big as a small cookie sheet.

Once the grill was hot enough, I oiled the dough, took each piece and placed it oiled side down and then shut the grill cover. It didn't take very long before the wonderful bread baking smell wafted out. I opened the cover and saw that the dough had bubbled...so I turned the two pieces over (I baked two at a time which was the best amount for my size grill). At that point Sweetie came to see what I was doing so I let him help load toppings on top of the pasta sauce I had just spread on the grilled dough.

He went a bit overboard, so the first two pizzas were fully loaded...lots of thinly sliced zucchini, red onion and mushrooms, slices of pepperoni, a few strips of prosciutto, some pine nuts, shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

He turned the heat up a bit because with all those toppings it was taking the cheese a while to melt and the crust was getting a bit burnt. Guess regulating the heat is something I still need to learn about.

Once those came off the grill we put on the other two pieces, oiled side down just like the first two. Once they were turned they got the pasta sauce but less toppings...just the thinly sliced pepperoni and prosciutto and the two shredded cheeses. The cheese melted more quickly, so these had nice crunchy but not burnt crusts.

I enjoyed both versions and am happy to report that I didn't dump anything into the insides of the grill. It may take another few tries to figure how to regulate the heat better and I will roll the crust thinner next time, too, but I'm no longer afraid to grill pizzas. Hmmmm...bet I could figure out a sourdough version of the pizza dough. Maybe a sweet version with ricotta cheese and fresh fruit. Sweetie may find that his grill has been commandeered by yours truly.

This is absolutely a High Five personal challenge...just wish I had been brave sooner...these were great pizzas! Sending this to the lovely and talented and newly blessed Lynn of Cookie Baker Lynn.

Also sending this over to Susan of Wild Yeast for Yeastspotting, a weekly wonderland of great yeasted inspiration. Her post on grilled pizza (well, two posts actually) gave me hope that I could do this. Thank you Susan!

Last but hardly least this is my entry for Bread Baking Day #32 - Italian Bread since there is hardly anything more Italian than pizza.


Grill-Friendly Pizza Dough
from Alton Brown's Gear For Your Kitchen

1 packet instant yeast (about 2 1/2 oz or 7 gm)
1 pound all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and rolling out
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 cup hot water
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to oil the dough before putting on the grill

Combine the yeast, flour, sugar, and salt, in that order, in a large mixing bowl. In a small mixing bowl combine the water and olive oil and then stir the liquid mixture into the flour mixture with a large wooden spoon until a dough starts to form. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes, or until the dough develops a silky texture.

Oil the surface of the dough and place it in another large mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. Divide the dough in half and with a rolling pin roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.(I made mine into four smaller pieces and when they were rolled out placed them onto sheets of parchment, keeping a tea towel over them until ready to grill. I oiled the dough while still on the parchment before placing, oiled side down on the prepared grill.)

Heat grill to medium-low. Oil one side of the dough. Place on grill, oiled side down. Cook the dough on one side until firm and lightly browned, then turn, add your favorite toppings, and cook until lightly browned on the other side and toppings heated through. Remove to cutting board, but and serve right away.

Yield:Two 12-inch pizzas

Ongoing Quest to Use Up Zucchini - with Chocolate

We are still looking for interesting ways to eat our veggies...and use up some of the ubiquitous veggie of summer...zucchini!

As I mentioned yesterday, bloggers are so positive and generous...I did say generous, too, didn't I...and today I have a true example. Tanita Davis is an author extraordinaire of two books (with another being written), both dealing with charming and determined young women, one a cook who wants her own cooking show and the other a World War II WAC who gets sent to the European theatre to get the mail going to the troops. You can read about them at her blog Tanita S. Davis. Better yet, go order them on Amazon or at your local bookstore.

Tanita left a comment with a link to a yummy chocolate zucchini bread. The link was to a blog, Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup (where you should check out her enormous zucchinis), and Jama linked to another blog where the recipe was posted by a friend, Robin, of the blog Robin Brande. She told of the woman, Elizabeth, who made some of the bread and gave it to Robin. Got that? I think Elizabeth has a blog, too, but I couldn't find the link to it.

So now, due to the generosity of each of these women, I have a recipe for Elizabeth's Phenomenal Chocolate Zucchini bread, which does indeed use up another two cups of shredded zucchini. Woot!

Looking the recipe over I see that it, too, contains a whole cup of oil. It also has a lot of sugar, and cinnamon. I like sweet, but the chocolate has some in it, so I'm losing 1/2 cup of the sugar. I like cinnamon, but not with chocolate, so I'm losing the cinnamon. A half cup of yogurt will replace 1/2 cup of the oil. Best of all, I'm adding 1/2 cup of chopped dark, sweet cherries because chocolate and cherries is a flavor combo that makes me happy.

I also reduced the nuts to 1/2 cup.

This is a great bread to give as a gift, especially if you make smaller loaves (just bake them a shorter time), or you can freeze some for that far off time when garden fresh zucchini and sweet, dark cherries are just fond memories.

Bread Baking Day is an ongoing event and this month, for BBD #22, Stefanie of Hefe und mehr asked us to make sweet breads. It doesn't get much sweeter than chocolate and cherries, so I'm sending this over to her. With all the changes it probably should be called Elle's Phenomenal Chocolate Zucchini Bread, but I'm calling it Chocolate Zucchini Bread with Cherries...simple and true. It is probably a lighter textured bread than the original recipe, but still has a nice chocolate kick, especially when eaten warm.

Speaking of generosity, next time a neighbor wants to gift you with some zucchini (unless you have your own plants overtaking your garden), say 'thank you!' and make this bread. You'll be glad that Tanita, Jama, Robin and Elizabeth were all so generous, too.



Chocolate Zucchini Bread with Cherries
based on:

ELIZABETH'S PHENOMENAL CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD
brought to you via Robin Brande & Jama Rattigan & Tanita Davis

3 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar
3 eggs or equivalent egg substitute
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2-3 medium zucchini)(measured after being squeezed dry)

½ cup chopped nuts ( I used walnuts)
1 pkg (12-oz) chocolate chips
½ cup sweet dark fresh cherries, pitted and chopped into about ¼ inch dice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 9x5" loaf pans with canola spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. In a separate bowl, beat eggs (or egg substitute and water) with the sugar until well combined. Add oil, yogurt and vanilla. Beat to combine, then stir in zucchini. Add wet bowl to dry bowl and stir until just moistened. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips and cherries.

Spoon evenly into pans. Bake 55-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans, then turn onto racks. This bread is yummy when eaten still warm...the chips are melty and the fragrance is full chocolate!

This bread got Sweeties's seal of approval...he had some more for breakfast, and is asking for another piece tonight for dessert.

Oats Whole Wheat and Barley Rolls

If this posts gets a nursery rhyme stuck in your head, that’s OK if that motivates you to bake these rolls. Of course if you forget to add the oats, like I did, it is a more pedestrian Whole Wheat and Barley Rolls.

There is nothing like fresh, warm from the oven dinner rolls at a potluck, especially when you know that the hostess is providing slices of ham and roast turkey. It may not seem as seasonal as candy cane cookies or fudge, but pot lucks are so typical of entertaining during the busy holiday season…the work is shared and we get to make something wonderful to bring. I'm submitting this as an entry for Bread Baking Day # 15, hosted by Annarasa, with the theme of celebrations.

This recipe is based on one of Marion Cunningham’s from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book. In case you have not read this book, it is a wonderful compendium of basic baking recipes, plus riffs on those. I especially like the front and back endpapers which have measurement equivalents, a basic pie dough formula, how to make a piece of parchment into a piping bag, how to soften gelatin and other tips.

Twenty-four to thirty soft, crusty, warm, yeasty dinner rolls are hard to beat. I made mine as pull-apart pan rolls, leaving about 2/3 of them plain on top and adding seeds to the rest. I replaced some of the all-purpose flour with barley flour and whole wheat flour and used my whole wheat starter.

NOTE: To use regular yeast instead of starter, when I add the starter to the other ingredients, leave that out and sprinkle 1 package dry yeast on top of the ingredients, stir, and let stand to dissolve.

A bonus is that your house smells yeasty and wonderful for hours. These would also be great for Christmas dinner, with roast beef or turkey or goose.

Whole Wheat and Barley Rolls
1 ¼ cups milk, warmed
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or ¼ cup0 butter, softened (plus another 2 tablespoons if making pan rolls)
1 cup whole wheat starter – if using dry yeast, see Note above
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup barley flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/13 – 3 cups all-purpose flour

Stir the warm milk, sugar, salt, and butter together in large mixing bowl. Make sure that the liquid is no warmer than 115 degrees F dry yeast, ten degrees less for cake yeast and starter.

Stir in the starter, then beat in the barley flour, whole wheat flour and ½ cup all-purpose flour.

Switch to the dough hook if you are using one. Beat in the rest of the flour on low speed. Continue to knead with the mixer 5-6 minutes or turn out onto a flour surface and knead for 6 – 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

Put into a large, greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap,a nd let rise until dougle in buld, Punch down and form into rolls.

Pan pull-apart rolls: Melt 2 – 3 tablespoons butter in a shallow dish in the microwave, making sure to cover the dish with waxed paper to keep spatters down.

Take the dough ball and divide it in half. Roll each half into a roughly 12 inch rope. Cut each rope into one inch pieces.

Roll each piece between the palms of your hands into a ball. Continue until all balls are made. Dip each ball in butter, coating all sides, then place in an 8 or 9 inch cake pan, leaving a little room between balls. If desired, sprinkle with seeds.

Cover loosely and let rise until double in bulk.

Bake in a preheated 425 degree F oven for about 15 minutes, or until the tops are a ddp golden brown. Remove from the oven, ease the rolls out of the pan and onto a rack to cool for a moment. Serve while warm with butter.